Lib Dem plan for 'all-disabled' election shortlists

The Liberal Democrats are to offer local associations the chance to use "all-disabled shortlists" to select candidates to stand in elections.

The party adopted a motion - which also allows for all-women shortlists - at its spring conference at the weekend.

The voluntary measure aims to boost diversity amongst candidates and MPs.

Lib Dem president Baroness Brinton told the BBC it was "ridiculous" that there were "only a handful" of disabled people in Parliament.

She told BBC Radio 5 Live the Lib Dems were offering "a full range of support" for candidates for under-represented groups.

'Culture change'

Rejecting the charge that it was tokenistic, she said: "We've tried support and mentoring for candidates from these under-represented groups and it's just not working."

Part of the problem, she said, was that people - whether members or the electorate - often "can't see beyond the wheelchair or the British Sign Language interpreter".

"Their view of an MP is not somebody in a wheelchair and that is really, really frustrating," she added.

It was vital therefore to persuade the public that disabled parliamentarians "have done a very good job", she said.

The party will try the format in the run up to the 2020 general election - and would try to encourage take-up by proposing spaces on the shortlists of "winnable seats".

"We're going to get the best of our candidates together and where a seat is happy to support it we're going to actually have a contest that makes sure we have a brilliant disabled candidate ready to go for a winnable seat in Parliament," she said.

In addition, Lady Brinton explained, the party will be asking local parties in the "top seats" to declare who they have approached - for example women, disabled people, black and ethnic minority and LGBT candidates - before starting the selection process.

"We think that's going to be a real culture change, from the grassroots up," Baroness Brinton said.

At the 2015 general election the Lib Dems were reduced from 57 to eight MPs, all of whom are white males, aged between 45 and 67.